Will the Internet Make the World Closer Argumentetive Essay

Will the Internet Make the World Closer Argumentetive Essay Saleh Alansari [email  protected] com Sunday,Oct 28 , 2012 One press of a button on your laptop can show you another world. Internet makes many of changes at several of scopes, such as obtainig credible sourses and developing huge range of commissinons (Wellman, 2002). For example, the high commission of developing the transportation, education, tourism, and presenting the civilization from country to another country (Wellman, 2002).Nowadays, the internet is already a part of our society (Wellman, 2002). In the 1970s, an international network of networks had been created and then computers, telephone lines, and radio networks had finally started working (Poole, & Schuyler, & Senft, 1999). After these developments, would human’s life be completely transformed? Even though there are different levels of technology around the world, Wellman mentions the levels do not matter about the Internet’s impact on both soc ieties and individuals today (Wellman, 2002).The Internet will make the world closer in business, communication and education. First of all, there are many ways that will improve business by Internet and the technology. Internet can lead businessman or businesswomen to communicate with their workers easily. As well as it can help people to find a great business. Internet in these days is very important for many people, notably businessman or businesswoman. However, that is significant for a lot of other, such as people who do not have enough money to travel to find new businesses and featured for many of them.What has the Internet developed in our business? Is not too hard to answer this question if we look at the development of ordering, accounting, selling, advertising, and managing (Michal, 1997). Businessman or businesswomen can easily see themselves only as consumers whose participation is limited to purchasing decision that together add up to a market force pushing one way or another to develop their business (Zittrain, 2008). In short, the Internet has encouraged people to develop their businesses in easy way.Second, people who usually using the Internet are more likely to use the Internet in a variety of social activities and to communicate with friends and family members (Wellman, 2002). The presence of the Internet is important in many things, such as access to resources, social interaction, and communication to local community and outside community (Wellman, 2002). People these days are traveling and mostly of people are studying outside of their own countries in order to achieving at least one of their dreams. At the same time, they always like to have a connection with their friends and families.They are lucky because they are in the era of globalization, developed Internet and the evolution in this world of technology day by day. Now, everyday we hear about a new device of specializing in telecommunications, such as iPhones, Galaxy, etc and it is clearly connected to the Internet server. Most people who use the internet say that the Internet has increase their communication between family members and friends as well as it has a unique quality as a communication channel and the ability to easily connect with others who has similar interest, values, and beliefs. (John, & Katelyn, & McKenna, 2004).Third, there are many reasons that help to say online education is great in someway, such as accessible 24 hours and student-centered teaching. The Internet leads students to study whenever and wherever they want (Online Education Database, 2012). For example, they can travel for their pleasures or businesses and they do not need to focus on their fixed schedules like they should attend their classes on time. Student-centered teaching means everyone has his or her own way to study (Alan, 2009). For instance, some people are more likely to learn online and everyone has his or her owns reasons.Moreover, children can no longer lie to th eir parents about their home works and grades because their schools post those in their web pages and the parents are able to figure out those through the Internet (Michal, 1997). Many students find that they have learned about each other by the Internet also they can reach each other by, emailing and chatting (Wellman, 2002). Students now have great opportunities to study easier more than students before but students in future will have more opportunities to study more easily. Some people might say that the Internet will not make the world closer.It is not closely with each other. For example, when they speak to each other on Skype or chat on Facebook they are not close enough to each other. Also, It might have high possible to increase social and psychological problems (Kimberly, 1999). As well as the Internet can affect decline of ethical people. It is showing many negative subjects. For example, porno websites, which are showing naked bodies, are becoming normal to see by many p eople (Muhammad, 1999). Of course misinformation is developed a lot on Internet (Anne, 2002). Therefore, some people use the Internet as a force to falsify many topics.For example, some websites are present that shows false information about religions, culture and medicine (Anne, 2002). Using Internet incorrectly causes some disadvantages to people such as losing time or having social and psychological problems (Kimberly, 1999). Spending a huge time by using Internet means exactly people waste their time. For instance, many people are using their much time for watching YouTube and looking at Facebook constantly (CNN, 2009) Lots of people especially in Canada check their Facebook every hour (Education, 2009).Also, Internet can cause people to have social serious issues. For example, many people around the world get isolation by people who can use Internet a lot and the isolated people eventually lose their social abilities. For example, they spend much time connecting with each other by texting instead of connecting face to face. Therefore, isolation might cause a psychological problem like depression. However, it is not close to each other but at least they have a way to talk freely and with out pay any money.People should control and solve these problems especially for our new upcoming generations. Also, people who writing false information on the Internet about culture and religious need to solve their problems because that means the exactly meaning of psychological problems (Anne, 2002). Isolation problems are not coming from the Internet only. Many people have those problems with out any effect of Internet. The development of business, education, communication, and civilization are explaining the huge of range benefits we got of the Internet.People spend too much time on the Internet should reschedule their times to avoid social and psychological problems (Kimberly, 1999). To sum up, the Internet had improved our lives in businesses, communication with oth ers, and education. Nowadays, we live with huge growth of technology and anything people want can get it easily by Internet. When we think about how much has the Internet changed in our society, we can look closely at the development for lots of things, such as business, education, communication, civilization, and commission.This shows that the Internet helps to develop our globalization more and more. Also, it explains how the Internet can be one of the biggest helpful services we have in our civilizations. Internet is a helpful and powerful force for doing our work but it can be detrimental, such as a decrease of ethics, an increase of misinformation and sometimes a waste of time. The Internet might be caused some problems, such as social, psychological, and isolation. However, to avoid those problems people should reschedule their times and think about it more seriously before their problems evolve. ReferencesAlan. Pritchard. (2009). Ways of Learning. From http://books. google. c a/books? hl=en&lr=&id=PD2YE3FOpXEC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=ways%5C+of+learning+&ots=wHs90mPIeG&sig=1sy3LdTKT9wulVFRxkazqExPoY0 Anne P. Mintz. (2002). Web of Deception: Misinformation on the Internet. Fromhttp://books. google. ca/books? hl=en&lr=&id=uS3p9iDooc8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=misinformation+is+developed+a+lot+on+Internet. +&ots=tFqFhq60LF&sig=KP4TYnTMtaw9lvTr9G9GCIWiwc8#v=onepage&q=misinformation%20is%20developed%20a%20lot%20on%20Internet. &f=false CNN.Five Clues That you are Addicted to Facebook. Relative April 23, 2009 http://www. cnn. com/2009/HEALTH/04/23/ep. facebook. addict/#cnnSTCVideo Dr. Kimberly S. Young. (1999). Internet Addiction Symptoms, Evaluation, And Treatment. From http://www. netaddiction. com/articles/symptoms. pdf Education. (Nov 1, 2009). Addicted to Facebook?!. From http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=a7MorwJIPCE Hilary Poole, Tami Schuyler, and Theresa M, Senft. (1999). History of the Internet. ABC-CLIO. United States of America. John, A, Bargh & Katelyn, Y, & McKe nna, A. (2004). The Internet and Social Life.From http://www. yale. edu/acmelab/articles/Internet_and_Social_Life. pdf Michal L, Dertouzos, (1997), What Will Be, HarperEdge, United States of America. Muhammad, Hozien. (1999). Pornography and Ethics. William Paterson University. From http://www. muslimphilosophy. com/mih/ethics/e5. htm Online Education Database. Tuesday 10th January 2012. 10 Advantages to Taking Online Classes. From http://oedb. org/library/distance-vs-local/10-advantages-to-taking-online-classes Wellman, B, & Haythornthwaite, C. (2002). The Internet in Everyday Life. Blackwell Publishing. United Kingdom. Will the Internet Make the World Closer Argumentetive Essay Will the Internet Make the World Closer Argumentetive Essay Saleh Alansari [email  protected] com Sunday,Oct 28 , 2012 One press of a button on your laptop can show you another world. Internet makes many of changes at several of scopes, such as obtainig credible sourses and developing huge range of commissinons (Wellman, 2002). For example, the high commission of developing the transportation, education, tourism, and presenting the civilization from country to another country (Wellman, 2002).Nowadays, the internet is already a part of our society (Wellman, 2002). In the 1970s, an international network of networks had been created and then computers, telephone lines, and radio networks had finally started working (Poole, & Schuyler, & Senft, 1999). After these developments, would human’s life be completely transformed? Even though there are different levels of technology around the world, Wellman mentions the levels do not matter about the Internet’s impact on both soc ieties and individuals today (Wellman, 2002).The Internet will make the world closer in business, communication and education. First of all, there are many ways that will improve business by Internet and the technology. Internet can lead businessman or businesswomen to communicate with their workers easily. As well as it can help people to find a great business. Internet in these days is very important for many people, notably businessman or businesswoman. However, that is significant for a lot of other, such as people who do not have enough money to travel to find new businesses and featured for many of them.What has the Internet developed in our business? Is not too hard to answer this question if we look at the development of ordering, accounting, selling, advertising, and managing (Michal, 1997). Businessman or businesswomen can easily see themselves only as consumers whose participation is limited to purchasing decision that together add up to a market force pushing one way or another to develop their business (Zittrain, 2008). In short, the Internet has encouraged people to develop their businesses in easy way.Second, people who usually using the Internet are more likely to use the Internet in a variety of social activities and to communicate with friends and family members (Wellman, 2002). The presence of the Internet is important in many things, such as access to resources, social interaction, and communication to local community and outside community (Wellman, 2002). People these days are traveling and mostly of people are studying outside of their own countries in order to achieving at least one of their dreams. At the same time, they always like to have a connection with their friends and families.They are lucky because they are in the era of globalization, developed Internet and the evolution in this world of technology day by day. Now, everyday we hear about a new device of specializing in telecommunications, such as iPhones, Galaxy, etc and it is clearly connected to the Internet server. Most people who use the internet say that the Internet has increase their communication between family members and friends as well as it has a unique quality as a communication channel and the ability to easily connect with others who has similar interest, values, and beliefs. (John, & Katelyn, & McKenna, 2004).Third, there are many reasons that help to say online education is great in someway, such as accessible 24 hours and student-centered teaching. The Internet leads students to study whenever and wherever they want (Online Education Database, 2012). For example, they can travel for their pleasures or businesses and they do not need to focus on their fixed schedules like they should attend their classes on time. Student-centered teaching means everyone has his or her own way to study (Alan, 2009). For instance, some people are more likely to learn online and everyone has his or her owns reasons.Moreover, children can no longer lie to th eir parents about their home works and grades because their schools post those in their web pages and the parents are able to figure out those through the Internet (Michal, 1997). Many students find that they have learned about each other by the Internet also they can reach each other by, emailing and chatting (Wellman, 2002). Students now have great opportunities to study easier more than students before but students in future will have more opportunities to study more easily. Some people might say that the Internet will not make the world closer.It is not closely with each other. For example, when they speak to each other on Skype or chat on Facebook they are not close enough to each other. Also, It might have high possible to increase social and psychological problems (Kimberly, 1999). As well as the Internet can affect decline of ethical people. It is showing many negative subjects. For example, porno websites, which are showing naked bodies, are becoming normal to see by many p eople (Muhammad, 1999). Of course misinformation is developed a lot on Internet (Anne, 2002). Therefore, some people use the Internet as a force to falsify many topics.For example, some websites are present that shows false information about religions, culture and medicine (Anne, 2002). Using Internet incorrectly causes some disadvantages to people such as losing time or having social and psychological problems (Kimberly, 1999). Spending a huge time by using Internet means exactly people waste their time. For instance, many people are using their much time for watching YouTube and looking at Facebook constantly (CNN, 2009) Lots of people especially in Canada check their Facebook every hour (Education, 2009).Also, Internet can cause people to have social serious issues. For example, many people around the world get isolation by people who can use Internet a lot and the isolated people eventually lose their social abilities. For example, they spend much time connecting with each other by texting instead of connecting face to face. Therefore, isolation might cause a psychological problem like depression. However, it is not close to each other but at least they have a way to talk freely and with out pay any money.People should control and solve these problems especially for our new upcoming generations. Also, people who writing false information on the Internet about culture and religious need to solve their problems because that means the exactly meaning of psychological problems (Anne, 2002). Isolation problems are not coming from the Internet only. Many people have those problems with out any effect of Internet. The development of business, education, communication, and civilization are explaining the huge of range benefits we got of the Internet.People spend too much time on the Internet should reschedule their times to avoid social and psychological problems (Kimberly, 1999). To sum up, the Internet had improved our lives in businesses, communication with oth ers, and education. Nowadays, we live with huge growth of technology and anything people want can get it easily by Internet. When we think about how much has the Internet changed in our society, we can look closely at the development for lots of things, such as business, education, communication, civilization, and commission.This shows that the Internet helps to develop our globalization more and more. Also, it explains how the Internet can be one of the biggest helpful services we have in our civilizations. Internet is a helpful and powerful force for doing our work but it can be detrimental, such as a decrease of ethics, an increase of misinformation and sometimes a waste of time. The Internet might be caused some problems, such as social, psychological, and isolation. However, to avoid those problems people should reschedule their times and think about it more seriously before their problems evolve. ReferencesAlan. Pritchard. (2009). Ways of Learning. From http://books. google. c a/books? hl=en&lr=&id=PD2YE3FOpXEC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=ways%5C+of+learning+&ots=wHs90mPIeG&sig=1sy3LdTKT9wulVFRxkazqExPoY0 Anne P. Mintz. (2002). Web of Deception: Misinformation on the Internet. Fromhttp://books. google. ca/books? hl=en&lr=&id=uS3p9iDooc8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=misinformation+is+developed+a+lot+on+Internet. +&ots=tFqFhq60LF&sig=KP4TYnTMtaw9lvTr9G9GCIWiwc8#v=onepage&q=misinformation%20is%20developed%20a%20lot%20on%20Internet. &f=false CNN.Five Clues That you are Addicted to Facebook. Relative April 23, 2009 http://www. cnn. com/2009/HEALTH/04/23/ep. facebook. addict/#cnnSTCVideo Dr. Kimberly S. Young. (1999). Internet Addiction Symptoms, Evaluation, And Treatment. From http://www. netaddiction. com/articles/symptoms. pdf Education. (Nov 1, 2009). Addicted to Facebook?!. From http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=a7MorwJIPCE Hilary Poole, Tami Schuyler, and Theresa M, Senft. (1999). History of the Internet. ABC-CLIO. United States of America. John, A, Bargh & Katelyn, Y, & McKe nna, A. (2004). The Internet and Social Life.From http://www. yale. edu/acmelab/articles/Internet_and_Social_Life. pdf Michal L, Dertouzos, (1997), What Will Be, HarperEdge, United States of America. Muhammad, Hozien. (1999). Pornography and Ethics. William Paterson University. From http://www. muslimphilosophy. com/mih/ethics/e5. htm Online Education Database. Tuesday 10th January 2012. 10 Advantages to Taking Online Classes. From http://oedb. org/library/distance-vs-local/10-advantages-to-taking-online-classes Wellman, B, & Haythornthwaite, C. (2002). The Internet in Everyday Life. Blackwell Publishing. United Kingdom.

Critically examine the theories that underpin the process of personal development planning and the role of self-reflection

The review will focus on the theories that inform and contribute to the process of personal development planning (PDP) and how these theories encompass and relate to the personal aspect of self-reflection and progress. What is the meaning of personal development planning. The Quality Assurance Agency has defined personal development planning as [A] structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development. What does the PDP process involve. Personal development planning involves an individual going through a certain process of continually developing and refining skills and constantly reflecting upon their own learning experiences. PDP can be developed to support coincided with academic, personal and career progression. The process of PDP includes looking at you own progression, enables an individual to assess their skills and recording these achievements. Record of Achievements (RoA) has an important role within PDP, as this profile/recording progress provides the means for students to improve their skills through RoA, it allows individuals to relate to the learning experiences, to review and reflect upon their learning experiences. This process gradually develops students to be aware of their skills, which initially gives them more confidence. This is achieved through reflecting and reviewing learning experiences that help students make targets and actions plans within profiling. By profiling it turns reflecting into a learning process, learning from experiences. The profiling process can be beneficial to the student as it allows them to think in what career path they would like to pursue in. â€Å"Profiling can be used by a student to focus in on particular career options, or it can be employed as a device, within the workplace, for thinking about professional development.† So not only does profiling help the individual whilst in Higher education but also gives an advantage in their career aspects of PDP. Is PDP important? PDP is of importance as it encourages an individual to reflect, review and set goals for themselves, this process helps an individual to develop their confidence and self awareness which is vital within the educational and work place settings. Any theories underpinning the process of PDP? These ideas and strategies, which contribute to PDP have been influenced and put into practice by theories from a wide rang of theoretical perspectives and approaches. Theories and idea's which will be looked at in this review are: * Peter Honey and Alan Mumford's Learning Styles. * David Kolb * Dewey * Moon * Illich * Bently. Theories that have contributed to PDP Theories Honey and Mumford What have they said Within their theory, Honey and Mumford had said that we, as individuals learn through different ways, for example we are not all passive learners, so we may not learn through that particular method of learning. They had categorised the learning styles into four main categories, so an individual was either one or the other. These categories where: * Activist Activists are individuals, are active learners and enjoy challenges and being involved when learning something. They tend to learn effectively and with enthusiasm when they are involved and taking apart in something. However activists turn off and lose interests in learning when they are not actively involved and are being taught passively. * Theorist Theorists are those who always want to know how things go together within a logical structure. They like to use theories in order to get their views across to others and to relate situations and ideas to the theoretical side of things. They use theorise to understand things and put theory into practice in situations. Theorists tend to mistrust claims or views, which have doubts or a weak foundation to it. Also they find it hard to learn when they cannot look into depth in something or relate it to theory. * Pragmatist These individuals learn through putting theory into practice, enjoy the practical side of learning. They like proving the theory, for instance testing out something based on the theoretical perspective and seeing how that incorporates within the practical framework. Also they may switch off from learning if they cannot see why they are doing something or for what purpose it is that they are doing something. * Reflector The reflectors seem to learn from their experiences, always thinking off how this could be done or what ifs and then putting these into their learning. Taking time when thinking things through and always making use of time. Also reflectors find it hard to cope with when running out of time, for example when trying to meet a deadline. Honey and Mumford suggested that to find out which category of learning styles a person falls into they would have to complete a number of statements, where in the end of the questioner you will be able to indicates which type of learner you are. How is this related to PDP Honey and Mumford's theory of learning styles is linked to PDP, as it focuses on individuals and how a individual can develop their skills through knowing what type of learner they are and most importantly how knowing how they can learn best and what are the best ways to learn. The learning styles can indicate an individuals strengths and weaknesses. By knowing how you learn best can have a huge impact on PDP. As you can plan and reflect upon yourself and see if you really are a theorist or a reflector and what makes you like this, so this is a type of reflection and also how from knowing how you learn can help you progress and develop your skills. How effective is it to PDP and own development Looking at these learning styles from a personal perspective, I myself had completed the learning styles questioner and discovered that I was a Theorist. This has been beneficial towards myself and PDP as at first when I read what it takes to be a theorist, that I could relate to that and I felt that that was my learning style, learning through wanting to know about the theories behind anything for solid proof. Has it been useful? However when I read up the other three learning styles I thought I was a bit of all of them put together. I know that I learn through reflection and I like to take time out and analyse what has happened and also that I fine it extremely hard to work when I have a limited amount of time. So I feel that I am limited to a certain extent if I say that I am a theorist because that is not completely true as I have the characteristics for the reflector style of learning as well. Any other links to other theories? The learning style theory was partially based on Kolb's learning cycle and adapted from the four main stages within Kolb's learning cycle. David Kolb's * Kolb * Dewy * Moon * Illich * bently * Conclusion Which theory overall has been most effcetive when considering my own learning why should we include PDP in our degree is it useful?

General Electrical Medical Systems

Q1: What is the underlying logic behind the global product company idea? Global Product Company (GPC) philosophy is mainly aiming at producing products that fit global markets with lowest cost and highest profit. This philosophy has mechanisms that have been applied to different phases of product lifecycle: Manufacturing phase: In manufacturing phase, cutting costs was achieved by moving manufacturing activities and eventually design and engineering activities from high-cost countries to low-cost countries. R&D phase: R&D is a very important phase in product development, it is essential to develop new products that can compete in the global market and considers different customers’ needs. Having high skilled workers in developing countries, where labor has relatively lower costs, has enabled the movement of R&D from high-cost countries to low-cost countries, however R&D programs, objectives, and strategies were still managed by headquarter and the corporate global senior management. Marketing & Sales phase: On contrary to R&D and Manufacturing, marketing & sales have to be localized operations according to each region and country. Accordingly, GEMS has established many offices around the world for sales and marketing management to get closer to the customer. Q2: Should the Global Product Company philosophy be altered to suit the needs of medical diagnostic market in China? China already has the third largest market for medical diagnostic after USA and Japan and it is already the fastest growing, it has the biggest market or low-ended products which has about 20% of the worldwide industry revenues. Accordingly, somehow the tenets of the GPC policies should change to increase the market share in the low-end products; GEMS should adopt the new â€Å"In China for China† policy and bring the plants in already low-cost countries to China. According to Chinese culture and rules, domestic production will bring greater demand and will also bring a slight cost savi ng that could enable GEMS low-end products to compete with Siemens products that are already being manufactured in China. Dropping the price with 10% can increase the sales with 50%. Although the â€Å"In China for China† policy might cause duplication in infrastructure, the newly expected market share in the Chinese market can absorb this duplication of infrastructure and production. Q3: Should GEMS be pursuing genomics and health care IT opportunities aggressively in addition, or instead of the China opportunity? China opportunity is a cash cow for the time being, it represents the biggest opportunity in the low-ended products. On the other hand, genomics and health care IT opportunities are the future of the industry they are star products. If GEMS did not look for opportunities and investments in genomics and health care IT, then it will lose its market share in the high and medium-ended products which both represents about 80% of the industry market. Accordingly, I see that GEMS should pursue genomics and health care IT opportunities aggressively in addition to the China opportunity.

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 62

English - Essay Example The bottom-up communication gives information about the employee’s needs, perceptions or opinions. Such practices assist the business in tailoring policies as well as programs meant to meet the specific requirements of the employees. On the other hand, top-down communication helps in increasing the utilization of specific workplace policies by ensuring employees are aware of the means to access and use the services (Doctor, 2008). Thus, lack of communication may result in huge losses in any business. For example, a marketing officer in a grocery business failed to inform his seniors that a majority of their products had increased in the market. It is obvious that an increase in supply results to a decrease in the price of a commodity. His reason was that he wanted to make some extra cash from the businesses sales. However, the business was faced with loss as most of its customers opted to buy goods from the rival business. After tracing the cause of their loss, the business managers realized the trick the marketer had played on them. Resultantly, the marketer was sucked, and the business adjusted its prices thereby attracting its former customers. From the story, it is clear that ineffective communication from the marketer caused the business loses. If the marketer was not selfish, he would have communicated on the increase of their goods in the market and the business would have adjusted its prices to move with the trend. Also, he would have retained his job. According to Du, B hattacharya and Sen (2010) communication is an essential instrument for the prosperity of any business. All businesses should, therefore, ensure that there is clear and efficient communication within their premises. Du, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2010). Maximizing business returns to corporate social responsibility (CSR): The role of CSR communication. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1),

Analytics, Interfaces, and Cloud Technology Assignment

Analytics, Interfaces, and Cloud Technology - Assignment Example However, the options and methods are critically examined helping the financial executives to deploy effectively. Once the procedures are scanned carefully the decision is made on the bases of available information (GRIFFIN & DANSON, 2012). Several organizations prefer to deploy analytics or a division of analytics capability through a method named as â€Å"Cloud†. The Cloud computing is not new in business organizations. For the past three decades, the remote access towards applications, platforms and infrastructure has been attached with the corporate of information technology operations and organizations (GRIFFIN & DANSON, 2012). Therefore, in recent years the difference is in the degree and effectiveness in which Cloud computing can be deployed. In addition, the Cloud computing operation means that the all applications, platforms and infrastructure of any organization must be managed by the third party. The advantages related to the Cloud include both cost saving as, well a s logistical benefits. Thus, these benefits are utilized by the organizations that are suffering from three trouble making forces that are joining along with other organizations. Moreover, on the global level; huge information, improved mobility and business oriented social media can change the way business is conducted in organizations. It is possible that the business rules are revised and the operations are re calculated that will affect the customer’s interaction with the organization. In modern days, many companies and other organizations are now realizing the importance of the Cloud for future strategies in the field of Information Technology. (GRIFFIN & DANSON, 2012) A recent Deloitte survey, Mid-market Perspectives: 2012Report on America’s Economic Engine reports that 40 percent of mid-market companies think that leveraging the Cloud will be an integral part of their ongoing IT strategy in 2012 and beyond. This is up 38 percent from 2011. In order to deal with the sudden increase of information, the demand is increased for the mobility options and the response of social media influence must recognize the prospective of the Cloud. How the CLOUD Control Distractions The most effective sources that influence customer’s sentiments and reactions are considered huge information, mobility and evaluation of social media that helps to estimate the user’s potential and interest towards information technology. But on the other hand, if it is for in business then it can be troublesome as usual. However, the financial executives can control the past and future operations and can construct a firm foundation that helps an organization in achieving their goals (GRIFFIN & DANSON, 2012). Cloud Computing Storage The storage of cloud computing requires a lot of space, in fact humongous data centers where data is collected and managed. These data centers pose several threats and security risk that may impact these data storage machines. The thre at may be from a professional hacker and also in the form of the cloud provider itself, if data is not adequately dealt with. A minor security incident or mis configuration can lead to a system failure or unavailability. For instance, in 2008, only a tiny corrupted bit integrated with a message that was used by the servers of Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) that provide services of online data storage imposed a system shutdown for many hours (Talbot, 2010). Moreover,

Hospitality Information paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hospitality Information - Term Paper Example become a priority for many hotels as the industry growing very fast, so there is a need to conserve energy not to mention the customers’ preference for hotels that have gone green. In the hotel industry, going green means many things. Green technology, which was once used as luxury in hotels is now a very important idea to adopt that is seeing unwilling hotels lose customers and profits. Different hotels embrace the green technology in different ways. This may include recycling waste in the hotel, reusing materials such as towels, using solar and wind energy, making organic food whose waste could be easily disposed and decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere among others (Kasavana, 2008). There are many ways through which hotels can use green technology. Conserving energy is very important in any industry and many ways are available for obtaining this objective. A common way is using solar energy that makes use of the renewable energy from the sun. Some hotels have solar panels installed in their buildings. The solar cells in the panels get energy once exposed to the sun and change it into electricity that can be used to perform many activities needing electricity. A plus for solar energy is that it can be kept safe for later use, and it does not harm the environment in any way. When used in place of electricity costs of producing electricity and level of pollution decreases. Wind energy that does not harm environment can also be used in places with a lot of wind where wind turbines move with wind and produce electricity. Solar and wind energy are a good strategy to green technology because they make use of the available natural energy reducing the need for power fro m electricity plants and also do not produce greenhouse gases that harm the environment(Hotels Going the Green Way with Technology, 2013). The design of hotel buildings also plays a big role in using the green technology. With the use of more environmentally friendly

Green Criminology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Green Criminology - Essay Example It is a fact that science and technology advances are contributing heavily to the advancements of life on earth. Nobody can overlook the efforts of science and technology in reducing the human efforts needed in many areas of our social life. At the same time, advanced technologies brought many challenges also. For example, nuclear power is believed to be the future energy option because of the rapidly exhausting oil resources and increasing energy needs. But nuclear power generation produces a lot of radioactive wastes and the dumping of these wastes is a major issue we are facing at present. Most of the industrialized or developed countries like America, Britain, France, China etc have toxic wastes generated out of high levels of industrialization and it is a fact that these countries dumping the toxic wastes in poor countries, misleading the administrations of the poor countries. This paper briefly analyses the victimization of the general public in poor countries by the developed countries in dumping toxic wastes. In December 1984, Indian city Bhopal has witnessed one of the worst examples of green criminology. The Union Carbide chemical plant at Bhopal, which used, highly toxic chemicals in its production process faced a catastrophic explosion when water somehow mixed with the chemicals because of the negligence. As per the estimates, more than 6000 people died in the company proximity and more than 60000 people were seriously affected (The Greening of Criminology, n. d, p.315). The toxic gages liberated out of the plant reached the nearby Bhopal railway station and killed many people who were sleeping there. This plant was established in a heavily populated area which itself is a proof of negligence on the part of the authorities and the Union Carbide company.

The Miracle of Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Miracle of Life - Essay Example Life's Greatest Miracle takes the mystery out of reproduction, but leaves plenty of awe in its place. This film is an appropriate scientific adjunct for birds-and-bees discussions with children and teenagers. However, parents may want to preview the birth scene which, although sensitively filmed, may be too intense for younger viewers. The Miracle of Life records human conception for the first time on film, and much more. Living, functioning reproductive systems are laid bare to the camera, and there is so much to explore and absorb that Nova's expert guidance is much needed and appreciated. The viewer is also able to follow an egg from its follicular development in an ovary, through the delicate, flowery fallopian tube for fertilization, and on to the uterus for development and eventual birth. Likewise, the audience follows the shorter journey of millions of sperm as they develop and strive mightily to reach the egg. Among the stunning sequences shot by the photographer is the incredible voyage of the sperm toward the egg.

Examine and assess the role of the government in managing the UK Essay

Examine and assess the role of the government in managing the UK economy - Essay Example government in determining long-term success of the country. The economy of U.K. has faced several financial crunches since World War II. It is claimed by some researchers that financial crisis during 2008 in U.K. and other Western nations was caused primarily due to deregulation of financial markets, that had significantly gained speed in these nations 1980 onwards (Trading Economics, 2014). The policy deregulation had drastically lowered control of the government authorities over financial markets of respective economies. Lower state control in the monetary financial market generated certain market exuberances. The real estate sector investments in these economies were made for speculative purposes, which finally generated the property price bubble. Several banks collapsed due to failure of unproductive investment projects, thereby resulting in the recession in 2008; this was because aggregate money supply in the economy had fallen in these nations. During the recession, as aggregate supply of money in U.K. had fallen, degree of productivity in the economy had declined. Lower level of production of several goods and services had greatly increased the level of unemployment in the country. It can be observed from the above graph that the extent of inflation in U.K. had astonishingly increased during the recession in 2008. This was due to expansionary, monetary as well as fiscal policies adopted by regulating authorities of the country at that point of time (Hirsch, 2008). The authorities had implemented these polices for stimulating the depressed market of U.K. In order to maintain welfare of the European economy during recession, its government authorities had adopted expansionary fiscal policies by increasing expenditure in the economy and lowering tax rates so as to enhance employment and output level of the country. Figure 4 in the Appendix shows the way in which fiscal policies attempt to revive an economy from the state of

Sales Marketing Plan Essay Example for Free

Sales Marketing Plan Essay Marketing is one of the most important aspects of a business. According to Peter Drucker â€Å"There will always, one can assume, be need for some selling. But the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customers so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should be needed then is to make the product or service available. † (Peter Drucker, Marketing Management, Philip Kotler). In this report, we have planned to market the service ‘Hair care’ by opening an Hair Salon in Silver spring, USA. We have analyzed different marketing strategies and designed a marketing plan for the same. SLP 01 1. NAME, LOCATION amp; NATURE NAME: â€Å"Looks† Location: Silver spring, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA Nature: ‘LOOKS’ will be one stop solution that will allow the entire family to have their hair needs satisfied in one convenient location. It will serve men, women, and children and it will accept appointments as well as walk-ins. ‘LOOKS’ will also sell premium hair care products. It will focus on serving the entire family in one quick, convenient visit. It will excel due to its attention on their clients, so as to build a long term relationship. Through unheralded customer attention, ‘LOOKS’ will slowly but surely gain market share as it services the entire family, creating long-term relationships. Being on one of the best location of Silver Spring, it will attract a lot of traffic. 2. SELF-ANALYSIS The US salon market accounts for approximately 60 billion dollars. Looking stylish, trendy and beautiful is one of the major concerns of the people in US today and providing this, forms the strength of â€Å"Looks†. As the mission of â€Å"Looks† aligns with this need of the market and as it has comparatively higher competency in the world of fashion it is a strong player. 3. CUSTOMER ANALYSIS The population of Silver Spring is 78,488, with a growth of 2. 5%. The population of Silver Spring consists of 48% males and 52% females. The immediate geographic target of LOOKS is Silver Spring and its neighboring communities of total 250,000 of population. Approximately 12 miles geographic radius is in need of the offered services. The total targeted population 100,000. Baby boomers, Gen-Xers and baby boomlet and the young generation are the groups that are targeted by ‘LOOKS’. 4. ANALYSIS OF  PRIMARY COMPETITORS The location chosen offers very less competition or no competition. Though there are two major competitors which LOOKS has to compete with. Ebony Barbers Unisex ;amp; Fenton Barber Shop are the two major competitors of LOOKS. As Silver Spring is one of the biggest hub for business it may likely to be hurt by emerging competition. LOOKS will have to face Monopolistic competition, as its competitor is able to differentiate their offerings. 5. MARKET RESEARCH The demographic segregation of Silver Spring is displayed in the graph displayed below: Age Group| %| Under 18 yrs| 23%| 18 – 24 yrs| 9. 3%| 25 – 44 yrs| 37%| 45 – 64 yrs| 21. 2%| Above 65 yrs| 9. 6%| Silver Spring is a ‘Salad Bowl’ society with ethnic group maintaining their ethnic differences, neighborhoods and culture. The Silver Spring population comprises of different racial people which are 46. 61%  white, 28. 07%  African American, 0. 44% Native American, 8.22% Asian, 0. 06% Pacific Islander, 11. 55% from  other races and 5. 04% from two or more races 22. 22% people of the total population are of Hispanic or Latino race. ‘Looks’ will concentrate on the needs and wants of all races as each group has a specific want that need to be satisfied. The Household pattern in Silver Spring is ‘diverse’ as maximum people in Silver Spring are adult live together, single parent family and single live out. 6. MARKETING ENVIRONMENT a. Political and legal factors This environment comprises of laws, government agencies and pressure groups. Business Legislation protects companies from unfair competition, customers from unfair business practices, and interest of the society. Consumer Protection is one of the most important aspect that had to be followed by the business legislation in Silver Spring, maintaining the product quality and disclosing the facts about the product is very important. Anti-competitive agreements among competitors are restrained in Silver Spring. Agreements such as price fixing and customer and market allocation agreements are prohibited in Silver Spring. Economic factors Economic environment helps in determining the strength and size of the market. LOOKS need to analyze the economic environment as the available purchasing power in an economy depends on current income, prices, savings, debt and credit availability in the economy. So its important to analyze the major trends in income and consumer spending patterns. Income Distribution The total number of household in Silver Spring is 30,374. Average household income of the area is $51,653 and the average income of the family is $60,631. The per capita income of Silver Spring is $26,357. 9. 3%(7300 people) of the population are below poverty line. The cost of living in Silver Spring is 40. 12% higher than the US average and the unemployment rate is 5. 10%. The recent job growth trend is negative. c. Social factors Silver Spring people are looking for services and products that provide them ‘Self realization’. Customers have become more value driven in choosing their products or services. Silver Spring organizes several ethnic festivals, musical and entertainment events. One of the most famous film festival i.e. Silver docs Documentary film festival is held every year in the month of June. Silver Spring also organizes Silver Spring Jazz festival which is one of the biggest musical festival which attracts more than 20,000 people. This festival is held on the second Saturday in the month of September. It also hosts American Film Institute Silver Theatre and culture, which showcases American as well as different foreign movies. Silver Spring is one of the major area of Montgomery County, the revitalization of Silver Spring has beckoned diversity of people wide variety of ideas. Thus, Silver Spring had a wide variety of culture. SLP02 7. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE ANALYSIS SWOT Analysis : Strengths : * Location, centrally located * Well-trained employees with excellent styling, hair care skills * Customer focused business practice * Wide range of services * Low cost * A powerful strategy supported by competitively valuable skills and experience in key areas * A strong financial condition; ample financial resources to grow the business * Product innovation skills * Wide geographic coverage Weakness : LOOKS will cater to a diverse variety of people of different culture and races i. e. whites, African American, Native Americans, Asians and people of other communities and culture. The Social class which LOOKS will target will be Middle class, upper middle class, Lower upper and upper uppers. Psychographic Segmentation: ‘Lifestyle’ and ‘Style statement’ are one of the priorities of people of Silver Spring. LOOKS will target the audience who are straights, swingers and long hairs having different personality traits. LOOKS will personify the personality of its target audience, by giving a style to their living. 9. SERVICE DESCRIPTION Silver Spring organises lots of cultural festivals, film festivals, and musical events. So LOOKS will cater the need of style needed by the target audience during these occasions. LOOKS will provide a quality service so as to keep the customers satisfied. With the trained and specialized staff it will also be able to speedy service to the client. As people look for quality, convenience and speed. LOOKS will focus in making hard core loyals, through its customer service, quality and style. 10. BUSINESS MISSION LOOKS is committed to provide the best services to its customers, it will provide its customers best professional services in the field of Hair care and styling. With the changing environment, the company will acquire new trends and will upgrade its services to provide best services to its customers. 11. GENERAL OBJECTIVES or GOALS Financial: 1. To reach the breakeven point within two years of the business operations 2. Growth of 10% profits from the base year. Nonfinancial: 1. Expand the operations of business by including new hair care programs within five years. 2. To become one of the best hair care salon in Silver Spring 3. Attracting the customers from the areas near silver Spring 4. Providing best services all round the year. 5. Provide professional services in affordable price. SLP03 12. DISTRIBUTION, LOCATION ;amp; TIMING The primary base of any beauty hair salon is to provide basic hair cut and other hair styling. LOOKS will be one stop solution for all the hair care needs. LOOKS provides hair styling for the entire family. The services of LOOKS will include Haircuts, Formal Styling of hairs, Casual hair styles, coloring, highlighting, perms, deep conditioning treatment, hair care treatment, hair spas, relaxers, massage, hair extension. Service is offered on a walk in basis or by appointment. LOOKS will emphasize a customer-centric service where the customers needs are always the priority. Highlighting is one of the essential services that is demanded by the customers in silver Spring. Coifed hair is one of the famous dress code that is followed by many women at their workplace. Customers not only just look for getting their hairs highlighted, but also prefer the services as cut with waving and smoothing. The main focus of customers in today’s time is quality of service that is provided at the hair salon, they aspire quality services as work place appearance code is one the important aspects of people in Silver Spring. Colouring and highlighting of hairs helps is transforming or changing the look and appearance of the person. Hair straightening and smoothening is also one of the major services that is demanded by the customers. LOOKS will also follow the new trends of hair styling just as blowout styling. LOOKS will also provide therapies and spa treatment which will help in recovering the damage hairs, hair loss and thinning hair treatments. 13. VARIATIONS IN TARGET MARKET LOOKS will tailor its services so that it caters the needs and wants of local customer group as well as immediate neighbours of Silver Spring. People in Silver Spring are of different races and culture so the customers will have diffused preferences, the consumer preferences will be diverse. LOOKS will operate in Silver Spring and its surroundings and will cater all the local variations. It is a suburban area. With the connectivity with two major cities, Washington D. C and Biltmore, it will also target the people residing near Silver Spring. SLP04 14. INFORMATION NEEDS Information on segmentation and competition are essential. Marketing Segmentation is an effort which helps in increasing company’s precision marketing. LOOKS will practice Segment Marketing as it will help in creating large potential market, as LOOKS will provide its services at low cost, it will be able to attract customers and the low costing can help gaining higher margins in future as LOOKS will cater a large market. The main aim of LOOKS will be to create and retain customers, keeping in mind the tastes and preferences of the customers. LOOKS can also create a few fine toned services and can price them accordingly for a high class segment. 15. PERSONAL SELLING LOOKS will adopt Full Market coverage strategy, it will serve all customer groups with all the products they might need. The services and marketing will be designed in such a way that it will appeal the broadest number of buyers. It will aim to endow its services with a superior image in people’s mind. It will try and win price sensitive market by keeping low cost to the services provided. 16. TRAINING * Gap between management perception and service quality specification: This gap occurs when management correctly perceives the requirement of the client but it is not able to provide that service because of the specified performance chart. There are several guideline that a company has to follow. LOOKS will use the products of latest technology so as to serve its clients with the services and style needed. Gap between service quality specification and service delivery: This gap occurs when the personnel is not trained properly and is incapable to meet the standards. LOOKS will focus on training its stylists from few of the top styling professionals, so that LOOKS is able to deliver the specified service required by the client. * Gap between perceived service and expected service: This gap occurs when the customers misperceives the services that is to be provided by the company. LOOKS will minimize the gap between the perceived service and the expected service. It will cater to the expected needs of the clients of LOOKS. LOOKS will give importance to reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy so as provide the determined service quality. 17. INCENTIVES * Gap between customer expectation and management perception: This gap occurs when the management is not able to perceive correctly the requirement and wants of the customer. LOOKS will consult the clients to know their expected needs and wants. The stylists will be trained in the way, that they work in accordance with the expectation of the clients so as to reduce the gap between customer satisfaction and management perception. Gap between service delivery and external communications: This gap occurs when customer satisfaction are affected by statements made by company personnel. LOOKS will focus on meeting the requirement of the clients, the clients who are decisive about the style or the service needed by them will be consulted by our consulting professional who will specially focus on understanding the requirement of the client. 18. EVALUATION OF SELLING PERFORMANCE LOOKS is a customer centred organization. LOOKS has to differentiate its services from its competitors to emerge as the best Beauty Hair Salon in Silver Spring. LOOKS will provide high Performance Quality to its customers. It will provide its customers the style and services as per their specifications. LOOKS will focus on customer satisfaction; the services that will be provided by LOOKS will enable the customer to feel good. LOOKS will provide the adequate and demanded quality to its customers by consulting the customers, the stylist will provide the services as needed by the customer. LOOKS will earn a strong competitive advantage through Personnel Differentiation. LOOKS will train the employees by the best stylists to cater to its customers. The physical space of LOOKS will be another powerful image generator. 19. COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES LOOKS will help women in balancing their lifestyle, taking care of their hairs. It will be a treat for women who have time. It will be one of the places where men and women can get pampered by the hair treatment, spas and other hair styling and hair care services. LOOKS position itself as â€Å"one-size-that -fits-all†, and â€Å"A mirror to your Image† 20. COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY The main objective of LOOKS is to build trust in women, once LOOKS is able to gain the trust then they tend to be loyal. Objectives of LOOKS: * Visual excitement environment * Fashion authority * Above average quality and value for money * Customer dedication * Providing unrevealed value to our customers in the quality of services provided by LOOKS * A commitment to putting customer first at all times. LOOKS will focus on building awareness, attracting traffic or eyeballs, turning first-time buyers into loyal repeat customers as it is the Holy Grail of marketing strategies. It will provide new innovative colors as well as style to their clients. As the customers in this industry have diffused preferences, the preferences of the clients will be considered and worked accordingly. The salon will focus on satisfying both Employees as well as customers because if the employees are happy they will keep the customers happy. A Fun to work environment will be adopted to add a spark in the working environment. 21. MEDIA LOOKS will follow the cheapest mode of advertising . i. e word of mouth as it will focus on customer satisfaction. Other modes of promotion will also be followed like advertising through banners and hoardings. LOOKS will position itself as ‘Mirror to your image’. * Newspaper : One page advertisement will be displayed in the leading news papers of Silver spring as Silver spring Gazette, and Mondotimes. It will help in targeting a greater audience as it covers large geographic area. * Front store Display: As these displays are visible by the pass by, it will help in attracting customers. * Banners: these displays will also help it attracting huge customer base. * Radio :Radio is also one of the most effective mode of promotion, In Silver spring there are huge number of radio stations that operate. It will also help in attracting huge customers as radio also targets huge geographical area. AM station like WACA, (1540 AM), W7OP (1500 AM), FM stations like WWDC (101. 1 FM), WCSP (90. 1 FM) * Pamphlets: To increase more awareness, printed pamphlets can be distributed near schools, shopping places, amusement parks. * Specialty advertising: In this LOOKS will advertise by few useful, low cost items bearing the company’s name and address, on few of the items advertising message will also be displayed. This will include ball pens, calendars, memo pads. Maintaining ongoing contact is essential for building relationships. It is the extension of engaging and focuses on keeping a customer. The objective is to increase the customer base, and retaining customers and engaging them on an ongoing basis results in increased product service opportunities and provides the opportunity to learn more about the customer, and forge closer relationships. 23. SALES PROMOTIONS LOOKS has to build effective communication strategy so as to capture maximum market. LOOKS has to work to develop an insight in people. LOOKS will be positioned in the mind of people as â€Å"one stop solution for hair care and styling†, one-size-that -fits-all†, and â€Å"A mirror to your Image†. LOOKS has to follow â€Å"learn-feel-do† model for determining its communication objective as the target audience has high involvement with a service provided to have differentiation. 24. ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONS EFFECTIVENESS Competition and Buying patterns of people of Silver Spring LOOKS competitors include: 1. Traditional Barbers: 2. Franchised Quick Salons 3. Independent Salons Ebony Barbers Unisex ;amp; Fenton Barber Shop are the main competitors of LOOKS. The buying patterns of men and women are quite different. Men are more sensitive towards pricing and convenience. Women are concerned and conscious with their styles and trends that are being followed. Monitoring needs to be carried out effectively, and that the feedback gained is useful and appropriate, it is also imperative that feedback is considered in any future decision-making SLP05 25. OVERALL COSTS The average price that we will charge for the styling of hairs will be approximately $100. The fixed cost will be approximately $100,000 per year including the equipments and the variable cost will be approximately $25 which will mainly include the electricity expenses, employee cost and other miscellaneous cost. Calculating the break even point: BEP = [FC ? (P – UVC)] BEPQuantity = [$100,000 ? ($100 – $25)] = 1333 customers BEPRevenue = 1333 customers ? $100 = $133300 The above figures are tentative and subject to change with the market conditions and demand. LOOKS will follow super value strategy, it will provide high quality of service in low price, so as to attract maximum customers. LOOKS initial focus is to attract maximum customers. It will follow Market penetration pricing, this will allow LOOKS to win the largest market share. New and quality product range of the hair care products will also be kept at the salon as many people prefer these for home use as well and it will turn out to be one of the channels for sale for high premium brand products. 27. TEMPORARY PRICE PROMOTIONS A new style of services will be provide to the client, all their requirements will be considered so as to provide them with the best result, the salon will give a total new look to the client keeping in mind the texture and the nature of his hair using best products and giving best services. The salon will follow distinctive strategy for positioning. The price will be on a lower end, as main motive of LOOKS is to give customers the value for the product and their satisfaction, as Customer value and customer satisfaction are very important for any company or a brand to sustain in the market and capture the market share. LOOKS will be focusing on price-quality effect . i. e. providing high degree of quality product. 28. PROFITS LOOKS will also keep premium  hair care products  for sale as they are one of the important revenue generator, they help in providing 5% to 40% of revenue. These professional quality supplies will include shampoos, conditioners, hair colors, reconstructions, brushes, combs, and other styling aids. 29. LEARNING Attract The critical first step of the customer experience is to attract customers to LOOKS. After attracting, it then need to engage customers to obtain their interest and participation. Engage The key factors at this stage are Convenience combined with interesting and innovative services. Learn Building up a knowledge database on each customer – is an important aspect that needs to be done at LOOKS as it can create value for the customer and help build the brand-customer relationship. Relate By leveraging the multidimensional data gathered from ongoing interactions with individual customers, LOOKS can create value by providing a personalized experience. Customization and good Customer Care help to erect switching barriers and encourages customers to return and repeat the cycle. LOOKS has to focus on generating high customer loyalty by delivering high customer value by designing superior value proposition backed by superior value delivery system. LOOKS success depends on the way it creates and deliver the value which is superior than its competitors, which is develops following capabilities : * Understanding customer value * Creating customer value * Delivering customer value * Capturing customer value * Sustaining customer value LOOKS will focus in making their customers their ‘True Friends’ i. e. it will bbuilding relationships with the right customers Conclusion: The marketing strategy will seek to first create customer awareness regarding the services offered, then develop the customer base, and finally work toward building customer loyalty and referrals. The message that LOOKS will seek to communicate is that the entire family can be served quickly, professionally, with superior customer service at reasonable rates. The message will be communicated through various methods. The first is in-store and storefront displays. This will be a convenient method to attract people that walk past LOOKSs store front. The other method of communication is advertisements in two local newspapers.

Mobile Phone Industry PESTEL and SWOT

Mobile Phone Industry PESTEL and SWOT 1. INTRODUCTION This report will critically analyse the external environment of the mobile phone operators industry with the application of appropriate strategy tools including PESTEL and Michael Porters five forces models. An immediate result of this would be the identification of opportunities and threats that may arise from change in environmental factors and assessment of the attractiveness of the industry respectively. The report will also analyse critically, the strategic capability of Vodafone, also applying appropriate strategy tools resulting in the identification of key strengths and weaknesses of the firm. The aim here will be to identify and discuss the core competences the firm possesses. To aid the analysis, the report will draw on information from various sources such as: The Vodafone case study on page 557 in the main textbook by Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, Exploring Strategy 9th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2011. Other sources include Keynotes, Mintel and Magazines. 2. QUESTION ONE: PESTEL, KEY DRIVERS AND MICHAEL PORTERS 5 FORCES 2.1 PESTEL The PESTEL framework is used for the analysis and according to Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2011), â€Å"it provides a comprehensive list of influences on the possible success or failure of particular strategies†. Discussed below are a few issues of PESTEL, please see appendix for other issues. (P)olitical/Legal factors Governments privatisation(through Ofcom) of the national telephone company, BT, compelling it to allow access to its network (via Openreach) for voice and broadband. This has helped to break down BTs monopoly thereby creating an opportunity for mobile operators to operate and at competitive rates.(case study p.558) (E)conomic factors The UK economy has still not fully recovered from the financial crisis of 2008, recovering even slower than other countries amidst huge government resuscitation efforts and even consumer spending is expected to decline by 0.6 per capita in 2011(the Telegraph, May 2011).This is a threat to the industry as, the slower the economic recovery, the slower the market growth for the mobile operators industry. Though the case study(p.558) says that personal disposal income growth as experienced between 2002 and 2007 was forecasted to resume in the future, recent developments suggest otherwise. Now the future is here, reports say household incomes are falling(NewStatesman, May  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­2011 and Mail Online, May 2011 ). This is a threat to the mobile industry as it means less income at the disposal of households, hence less subscribers to its services. (S)ocial factors Consumer need for converged services, such as mobile telephony, fixed line telephony, television and broadband internet, was increasing(case study p.558). This means an opportunity for mobile operators to expand their market as more people are coming on board with this convergence need which could be a result of the plunge in disposable income so people want all services in one and pay a lower lump sum for all in a bid to ration their income. A decline in UK fixed line telephone market as households were becoming â€Å"mobile-only† users. This is an opportunity for mobile operators to capture the market share of fixed line telephone operators in a bid to expand theirs. Consumer perceived prestige that comes with owning smartphones is an industry opportunity. For example, everyone wants to have an IPhone, HTC or Blackberry because they are ‘cool or for other reasons, so operators in the industry can capitalize on this and increase their market share by offering cheap deals. Consumer ‘hype for new and modern technologies as everyone wants to have the latest ‘thing in technology. This would create an opportunity for the industry to capitalize on and expand their market share. (T)echnological factors Development of new technologies, IP(Internet Protocol) for voice, data and video transmission(case study p.557). The dynamic nature of technology is posing a threat as operators may be stuck with obsolete technology thereby facing a challenge to be pro-active in order to retain market share and keep churn rates at bay. Continued upgrading of speeds over mobile networks poses a threat as operators have to keep up with the upgrading of speeds because they might loose customers to service providers who can offer better speeds. (E)nvironmental factors As a result of advancement in telecommunications technology, mobile operators have to replace network equipments and hazardous wastes(masts, cables, construction waste etc)frequently. Mobile operators are then faced with the challenge of finding energy efficient ways of recycling which may also be capital intensive, altogether posing a threat. (L)egal factors Ofcoms issuance of licences for additional mobile network operators will pose a threat to incumbent operators( as their market share is threatened) and be an opportunity to potential operators as this will lower entry barriers for them. Elaborate legal contracts can also be a threat to the industry as lots of legal obligations have to be satisfied prior to and after entry. Drawing up different phone contracts for different mobile packages can prove challenging for the operators. 2.2 KEY DRIVERS FOR CHANGE Socio-cultural issue: Consumer need for converged services: Consumer needs(which has led Virgin Media to provide multiple services such as the ‘quad play and others providing the triple play) change from time to time and even some firms will try to create the needs for the consumers thereby pushing the industry towards finding ways to satisfy these needs as the market expands. This is one of the major drivers of change for the industry. Technological issue: Development of new Technologies: The dynamic nature of technology will keep operators findings ways to stay ahead of competitors by developing new technologies such as the IP, digitising high-speed distribution of voice, data and video over multiple networks. 2.3 MICHAEL PORTERS 5 FORCES ANALYSIS a.Threat of entry: (low) The barrier of initial capital cost of entry may be daunting but the regulatory changes in the UK communications industry by Ofcom saw the issuance of licences to more mobile operators and also allowing MVNOs to lease network capacity without the capital cost of building their own hence reducing barriers to entry. This has also led to increase in the number of competitors. b. Threat of substitutes: (low/moderate) Considering the advantages of mobile connections (make calls, sending messages/data, music etc), substitutes would be the fixed line connections, skype(or VOIP) on broadband, radio airwaves, phone booths or simply go without. With the fixed line connections, Ofcom reported that the number of lines dropped from 34.9million in 2003 to 33million in 2009. Call minutes had also decreased by 15% from 167billion to 138billion over the same period with mobile minutes expected to exceed fixed line minutes in 2010(Case study p.558). A report on Broadband news also says that mobile broadband will overtake fixed line connections in 2011.(Broadband Choices 2009). It is likely that the trend will continue in this way, considering the convenience offered by mobile connections, of being able to make a call on the move. c. Competitive rivalry: (high) One of the aims of Ofcom is to ensure healthy competition among operators which saw a rapid growth in the number of competitors. The major competitors in the industry are Vodafone, Telefonica O2, Orange, 3 UK and Tmobile plus lots of MVNOs. According to the case study, wireless operator margins in the UK were up because of strong competition(p.559). d. Buyer power: (moderate) The main buyers from the industry are households(individuals) and businesses. According to case study(p.559), average churn(customer switching) rates in the market was 20% annually due to the introduction of number portability in 2007 and competitive tactics such as subsidising handsets for subscribers. Customers would switch operators for better offers or added value for their money. To counter this churn rate, most operators have found a way to switch post-paid customers to longer contracts of 18months or even 24months as at 2009. A recent 2011 report (Sim-only deals, 2011) highlights other reasons for low switching rates including providers loyalty programme and value for money SIM only deals which altogether gives them the power to make customers stay. e. Supplier power: (moderate) The main suppliers to the industry would be the handset makers and Ofcom. Major handset suppliers such as Nokia with 40% of UK handset market and Samsung,21%, supply handsets to the industry under global contracts(case study p.559). There are more suppliers today including Apple, which is another fast growing supplier as their phones are deemed trendy and a must-have because of its innovative features. Sony-Ericsson, Samsung are among the loads of others. The case study p.559 says mobile handset sales had experienced a decline in 2009 as UK wireless operators started to offer sim-only plans which allow consumers to retain their current handset and pay lower monthly tariffs. Ofcom on the other hand is the sole provider of spectrum. ATTRACTIVENESS: Based on the evidences from the five forces, the report concludes that the industry is attractive. This being that, though rivalry is high, but other threats and powers are low. Essentially incumbents or new operators can then focus only on competition and worry less about powers and other threats. 3 QUESTION TWO: STRATEGIC CAPABILITIES OF VODAFONE According to Johnson et al.(2011), Strategic capabilities are capabilities of an organization that contribute to its long-term survival or competitive advantage made up of two components: Resources, which are assets the company has or can call upon and Competenceswhich are ways in which those assets are used or deployed effectively. 3.1 RESOURCES AND COMPETENCES Human Resources Vodafone has had a history of experienced CEOs including Arun Sarin(resource), who was skilled in achieving growth in developing markets(competence/strength). Also, Gary Laurence(resource), head of Vodafone UK, appointed CEO in September 2008 was known for his ability to identify strategic options(competence/strength) and the current CEO, Vittorio Colao(resource) who succeeded Arun in 2008 is known for strong reputation as cost cutter.(competence/strength). (Case study page 563) Vodafones partnership with BT(resource) hosting BTs MVNO, allowed it to provide services to corporations.(competence/strength). It started a joint venture with O2(resources) which enabled it to extend its fixed-line network.(competence/strength). Vodafone, in its target of business travelers with passport services(resources), was able to offer home country voice rates while roaming in Europe and mobile data services for  £10 a day(competence/strength).(case study page 563) Financial Resources Financial Performance of Vodafone: (a) ROCE(Return on Capital Employed): measures the returns made from all forms of resources or capital employed in the business. Vodafones resources are the capital employed and its competence is shown in the amount of returns generated from utilization these capital. Vodafones ROCE plunged by 3.73% to give a ROCE in 2010 of 19.85. This may be slightly better than industry average but it shows a weakness to efficiently utilise resources to yield maximum profits. Vodafone 2010 2009 Industry ROCE 19.85 20.59 19.48 Source. Morning Star Stock Report. (b) Current ratio:   measures a companys efficiency at meeting its short term obligations. A good ratio would be for current liabilities to be covered at least once but Vodafones current assets(resources) can barely cover 50% of its liabilities in 2010 though it improved from previous year. On the whole, this is a weakness as the company is low on liquidity and incurring too much liabilities in terms of its short term borrowings. Vodafone Plc 2010 2009 Industry Current Ratio 0.50:1 0.47:1 Source: Morning Star Stock Report. (c) Net Gearing: shows the proportion of debt within a companys overall capital. The table below shows that Vodafones net gearing has declined from 40.67% in 2009 to 37.76% in 2010. Overall for the industry borrowing is about 40% of total capital. The reduction therefore for Vodafone is good as its means a reduction in finance costs too. Vodafone 2010 2009 Industry Net Gearing ratio 37.76% 40.67% 39.40% Source: Morning Star Stock Report. (d) Interest cover: explains Vodafones ability to service its debt. From the table below, it appears Vodafone makes enough profits to service it finance costs as it has been able to increase its interest cover to 7.51times in 2010 from 7.03times in 2009. This may not be a core competence but it is a strength for Vodafone. Vodafone 2010 2009 Interest cover 7.51 times 7.03 times Source: Morning Star Stock Report. Physical Resources Vodafone makes heavy investments in the marketing of its Product brands (competence/strength) which includes, landline solutions and mobile telephony, mobile broadband and secure employee remote access(resources), making them well known.(Vodafone website). It invests also in the marketing (competence/strength) of 3G dongles or cards(resources) for internet connection giving it the largest share of 3G subscribers. Vodafone used wholesale services to distribute its fixed voice and broadband (resources) but its prices were too high giving it only a few customers(weakness). Another of its products is the Vodafone-at-home(resources), with which it competed with fixed line providers by offering fixed line prices when customers call from within or near their home(competence/strength). Core Competences For the sake of this report, the core competences identified are Vodafones CEOs. They have been exceptional with what they bring to the table and how their expertise has been able to transform the company. Vodafone UK CEO, Gary Laurence has been formidable in terms of identifying strategic options available to the company such as successful alliances and joint venture with likes of BT and O2. Heavy investment in the marketing of its products giving it largest share of 3G subscribers is another core competence. 3.2 VODAFONE VALUE CHAIN Primary Activities Inbound logistics: Vodafone possesses its own network equipments, backbones and infrastructure to provide various communication services, and purchasing of handsets (Annual Reports 2010, p.21). Now, its in a network sharing agreement (sharing masts, sites and towers) with O2 covering the UK and 4 European countries,.(case study page 559, Guardian March 2009)., Another inbound logistic is the ownership of spectrum. Spectrum is of particular importance to the mobile phone and mobile broadband industry, which relies on it to carry information between customers handsets and mobile masts. Vodafone spectrum is 1800MHz. (Ofcom report, Feb 2011). Operations: All Vodafone operations are based on in-house infrastructure. Vodafones operations is dependent on its people, infrastructure and financial resources. Its logistics operations (which provides a variety of value-added services), evolves from a single, purpose built site in West Midlands.(Unipartlogistics.com) Out-bound logistics: Vodafone has consumer on-line purchasing systems in place that allow customers to purchase its services directly(Vodafone website). It also has its own billing system. Marketing and Sales: Vodafone has several own branded and other retail chains that it uses in distribution. According to the case   study(page 563), Vodafone invests a lot in marketing in all markets whilst promoting its brand and also sponsors Formula 1 and England cricket sports. Services: Its all encompassing website enables customer online ordering and feedback monitoring.(source).Vodafone has customer services helpline that offer after sales  services and it also offers services to MVNOs such as Lebara mobile, Asda mobile, Talk mobile(Carphone Warehouse) and BT mobile(http://ukmobilecoverage.co.uk/), Support Activities Infrastructure: Vodafones mode of expansion was the formation of a joint venture with O2(case study p.559) to manage its mobile network and share network covering 4 European countries and the UK. It also leases BTs fixed line services and hosts BTs MVNO.(case study p.562) Human Resource Management: Vodafone depends on its employees for the quality of its services to customers. It ensures an inclusive working environment and encourages innovation, ambition and pro-activeness. Vodafone encourages enthusiasm, talent and commitment in its employees in order to build and maintain its success and stay competitive.(Vodafone, Our people). Technology and Development: Vodafone owns internet portals which enables on-line ordering. Also, continuous RD helps the company to incubate and deliver innovation to the business. (Annual Report, 2010. p.20) Procurement: Vodafone, like other networks, purchases branded handsets from suppliers. Vodafone holds several training courses for its procurement team for efficient management of supplier performance. CONCLUSION SWOT MATRIX STRENGTHS 1. Experienced CEOs(UK CEO, Gary Laurence). 2. Partnership with BT and O2. 3.Offering home country voice rates abroad. 4.Heavy investment in marketing. 5.Vodafone at home 6. Good Interest Cover 7. Reduced borrowing WEAKNESSES 1.Low level of liquidity 2.Inability to increase ROCE 3.High prices and inefficient channel of distribution for fixed voice and broadband. OPPORTUNITIES 1. Governments privatization of Ofcom. 2. Consumer need for converged services. 3. Decline in Fixed line telephone market 4. 2012 Olympics 5. Consumer demand for smart phones 6. Consumer hype for modern technology 7. Ofcom issuance of entry license THREATS 1.Slow economic recovery from recession 2.Decline in disposable income 3.Immigration cap 4.Health issues in areas of mobile masts. 5.Customer switching rates. 6.Development of new technologies 7.Capital intensive recycling 8.Ofcoms issuance of entry license 9.Elaborate legal contarcts From all facts assessed in the report and also information from the case study and Vodafone accounts, it is indeed evident that Vodafone is struggling to develop a total communications strategy to enable it to secure leadership   in the rapidly growing market for high speed internet services in its UK home market due to the fact that it actually cannot improve its core activities in order to gain competitive advantage.

Criminology Theories Strengths And Weaknesses

Criminology Theories Strengths And Weaknesses The classical school of criminology was developed in the eighteenth century, where classical thinking emerged in response to the cruel forms of punishment that dominated at the time. It is considered that writers such as Montesquieu and Voltaire encouraged perhaps the emergence of this new classical thinking, by becoming involved in campaigns for more enlightened approaches to be taken towards crime and the punishment given by the justice systems at the time. Also the development of society craved new forms of legal regulation due to the fact that there needed to be predictability in the system, as technology and properties in particular needed legal protection and workers needed to be disciplined in a consistent way. There were two main contributors to this theory of criminology and they were Jeremy Bentham and Cesare de Beccaria. They are seen as the most important enlightenment thinkers in the area of classical thinking and are considered the founding fathers of the classical school of criminology. They both sought to reduce the harshness of eighteenth century judicial systems, even though coming from different philosophical stances. Benthams contribution to classical theory is based on the fact that he was a utilitarian, interested in the happiness and well being of the population and therefore believing that punishment, in the form of the infliction of pain, should always be justified in terms of a greater good. At the heart of Benthams writing was the idea that human behaviour is directed at maximising pleasure and minimising pain, (the pleasure-pain principle). Bentham believed that crime was committed on the outset, by individuals who seek to gain excitement, money, sex or anything of value to the individual. Beccaria (1764/1963: 93) stated that; It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them. This is at the heart of the classical school of criminology. Beccaria believed that laws needed to be put into place in order to make punishments consistent and in line with the crime. He believed that crime prevention in its effectiveness is down to three main ideas, these being the certainty of the crime and how likely it is to happened, the celerity of the crime and how quickly the punishment is inflicted and also the severity of the crime, and how much pain is inflicted. Beccaria thought that the severity of the penalties given should be proportionate to the crime committed and no more than what is necessary in order to deter the offender and others from committing further crimes. Classical thinking says that criminals make a rational choice, and choose to do criminal acts due to maximum pleasure and minimum pain. The classical school says criminals are rational, they weigh up the costs and therefore we should create deterrents which slightly outweigh what would be gained from the crime. This is the reason behind the death penalty being viewed by classical thinkers such as Beccaria and Bentham as pointless, because there would be no deterrent. However when considering manslaughter, as Bentham also believes, if the severity of the punishment should slightly outweigh the crime then surely capital punishment should be used, there doesnt seem to be any stronger a deterrent to other criminals thinking of undertaking the same criminal behaviour, than seeing another eradicated due to their actions. Classical thinking has had a significant impact on criminological thinking in general and perhaps a greater impact on criminal justice practise. In Europe and America the idea of punishments being appropriate to the nature of the crime has become a foundation for modern criminal justice systems. Since the introduction of the classical school of criminology and classical thinking, the use of capital punishment, torture and corporal punishment has declined. Neither Beccaria nor Bentham believed in the death penalty, apart from, Bentham argued, in the case of murder. The second half of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries also saw the establishment and growth of the prison, as a major system of punishment, the idea and concept of prison was to take punishment away from the body and instead punish the mind and soul, and these are the keys to changing a persons outlook and views of their criminal behaviours. Many elements of classical ideas are very useful in modern society and these show the strengths that the theory does have. Deterrence continues to underlie all judicial systems and indeed underpinned the principles of the first commissioners of Sir Robert Peel, in the creation of the Metropolitan police. Prisons are also used as major deterrents and also to try and reduce rates of crime. However a great weakness of the classical school of criminology is, the idea stemming from classical thinking that all criminals are rational is not generalisable to the whole population nor is it entirely valid, due to the fact that there may be biological factors stopping an individual from being able to think and behave rationally. Therefore it may not be the particular choice of the individual as they may have been born that way; they may not have the ability to make a rational decision due to a mental illness such as schizophrenia. They may be disorientated or even drugged which affects the brain functioning and therefore any behaviours, resulting in an individual becoming irrational. Also, if people act due to principles of rationality and free will then why is it that the poor are predominating in the criminal justice system, classical thought doesnt include factors of necessity in order to survive. As Jeffrey Reiman (1979) said; the rich get richer and the poor get prison White and Haines (2004) said that the classical school of criminology has 3 main challenges to it. Firstly; how to make such ideas serve the interests of justice and equality when faced with a particular defendant in court. (Not all criminals appear to be acting rationally and of free will) Secondly; that for criminal justice bureaucracies such as the police, growing efficiency may not always be compatible with an emphasis on equal justice, as their gain is to decrease crime rates. Thirdly a power issue, the rationalisation of the legal system potentially means some reduction in their power, which may backfire in terms of being a deterrent. In late 19th century the classical school came under criticism by a form of scientific criminology which emerged due to Darwins great works being published between 1850 and 1870, this therefore had a profound effect on scientific thought and individuals views of human behaviour. Classicism defines the main object of study as the offence. The nature of the offender was defined as being free-willed, rational, calculating and normal. The classical thinking response to the crime was to give punishment that is proportionate to the offence. The Positivist school of criminology however opposes this classical school of thinking, positivism states that the object of study is the offender, and that the nature of the offender is driven by biological, psychological and pathological influences. Their response to the crime is that of giving a treatment of an indeterminate length, depending on individual circumstances. Unlike classicism, positivism views criminal behaviour as irrational and perhaps due to a problem (biological, physical or psychological) that an individual has, therefore they are partially relieved of the crime they committed. Cesare Lombroso is related to much positivist thinking, as a psychiatrist he looked at criminals as being throwbacks to a more primitive stage of human development, he compared physical features of criminals and related them to more primitive stages of mankind and formed a prediction based on measurements of skulls and main physical features, of how certain criminals look. Lombrosos thinking clashed with that of classical thinking, saying that criminals were born not made, and they are not rational as they reproduce thoughts similar to that of inferior humanity. The differences between the thinking behind both the classical school of criminology and the positivist school of criminology highlight the strengths and weaknesses that are associated with both. The classical school has much less biological fact and figures backing up its views, however it has proven successful in reducing crime rates and in providing a deterrent and a way in which to successfully contain individuals who rebel against the system. Unlike positivism which doesnt have any form of punishment, just a form of treatment, the classical school shows criminals that they cannot behave in certain ways in order to maximise their pleasure and minimise pain if it involves breaking the law, it does this successfully because the punishment that is given is more than that of the pleasure that they would receive. Therefore as rational thinkers, individuals contemplating criminal behaviours would not do so due to the laws set in place to deter the behaviour. However the main weakness of the classical school of criminological thinking is that it considers all criminals to be rational and make decisions by free will, but not all individuals are rational and not all their behaviours are free, as if an individual had a mental illness or a physical defect, this may totally change the way in which they act and think. The social construction of crime has changed over time; feudal and religious influences have changed, and affected the criminological theory used. When the Classical school developed it was in a time of major reform in penology, there were many legal reforms at the time due to the French revolution and the legal system was developed in the united states, which would have had an effect on the united kingdom making an increased effort to set laws on crime in stone. As modernity has progressed so has the development of the judicial systems, if positivism was used as the main criminological thinking then these systems wouldnt exist because positivism uses treatments to the criminal in order to solve crime. This could be why the classical school of criminology has been so influential and still is, because it protects various organisations set out to remove crime and it also provides a good theoretical basis on which more recent theories have been developed.

Japan and Its Customs Essay -- Japan Japanese Customs Essays

Japan and Its Customs General Information on Japan Japan has a population of approximately 125 million people packed tightly into a rather small geographic area. The official language in Japan is Japanese. Japanese is spoken only in Japan. The literacy rate in Japan is very close to 100 percent and 95 percent of the Japanese population has a high school education. Japan’s form of government is parliamentarian democracy under the rule of a constitutional monarch. The dominant religion is Shinto, which is exclusive to Japan. However, the Japanese have no official religion. Appearance 1) Make appointments before you arrive in the country Japanese don’t like newcomers. Make appointments before you arrive in the country. The best way is to be introduced personally by a Japanese agent, or better, by a Japanese business partner. Before you make an appointment send detailed information about your company. Your Japanese partners expect you to ask for the same. 2) Be on time As a general rule, the Japanese are always on time. There are no such things as being "fashionably late" or making a "grand entrance". If an event is to begin at 09:00, then it is best to arrive a few minutes early to get yourself organized and be prepared to begin right at 09:00 (not 09:05). 3) Dress conservatively In general, the Japanese are much more conscious of their appearance in public than we are in the West. Some Japanese would rather spend money on clothing than on food. In the large cities your clothing is a sign of your background, social status, or wealth. In general, women do not wear sleeveless tops, shorts, or revealing styles. To conform to the typical businessman's style, men wear dark two piece suits with plain white shirts and conservative ties. The Japanese do not wear excessive amounts of jewellery that are obvious signs of wealth. Although a piece of jewellery might be expensive, it is worn with a sense of quality, not quantity. Behavior 1) Greet with a long and low bow Bowing represents humility. You elevate, honor, and respect the other person by humbling yourself or lowering yourself. The lower you bow, the more you are honoring or respecting the other party. As a Westerner, you are not expected to initiate a bow, but a bow should always be returned (except from personnel at department stores and restaurants who bow to welcome... ... or letter openers; -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  items totaling an even number, such as four flower stems (the number four symbolizes death); items totaling nine (the number symbolizes suffering) -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  flowers are generally used at times of illness, death, or courting only -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  white and yellow chrysanthemums are for funerals Conclusion The Geert Hofstede analysis for Japan is dramatically different from other Asian Countries such as Hong Kong, Korea or China. In Japan Masculinity is the highest characteristic. The lowest ranking factor is Individualism, which coincides with their high ranking in Uncertainty Avoidance. Japan is a more collectivist culture that avoids risks and shows little value for personal freedom. Power Distance  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Individualism  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Uncertainty Avoidance  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Masculinity  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Long term orientation Japan  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  54  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  46  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  92  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  95  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  80 Romania  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  90  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  32  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  90  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  42  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   PDI – Power Distance IDV – Individualism MAS – Masculinity UAI – Uncertainly Avoidance LTO – Long term Orientation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Anyone going to Japan will find it illuminating. Anyone going to do business in Japan will find it a must.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ronald Dore

The Birthmark Essay: The Theme -- Birthmark Essays

â€Å"The Birthmark† – The Theme  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, â€Å"The Birthmark,† the dominant theme is love conquering self, though there is also present the theme of alienation resulting from the evil within mankind. This essay intends to explore, exemplify and develop this topic.    Hyatt Waggoner in â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne† states:    Alienation is perhaps the theme he handles with greatest power. â€Å"Insulation,† he sometimes called it – which suggests not only isolation but imperviousness. It is the opposite of that â€Å"osmosis of being† that Warren has written of, that ability to respond and relate to others and the world. . . . it puts one outside the ‘magic circle’ or the ‘magnetic chain’ of humanity, where there is neither love nor reality (54).    Waggoner’s theme of alienation does play a part in the tale, but the theme which dominates is that of love conquering self as exemplified in Georgiana’s growing love for Aylmer. Her love transforms her very soul. â€Å"Everything he has to say is related, finally, to ‘that inward sphere’† (McPherson 68-69). â€Å"When he desired to build the kingdom of God, he looked for the pattern of it, not in history nor in the fortunes of those about him, but in his own heart (Erskine 180).    In the opening paragraph of â€Å"The Birthmark† the narrator introduces Aylmer as a scientist who â€Å"had made experience of a spiritual affinity more attractive than any chemical one.† Hawthorne’s description of the scientist’s love for Georgiana is apt, for love is just that – spiritual. And the theme of this tale is a spiritual one. Through the course of the story Aylmer declines spiritually, while Georgiana advances spiritually.    Even after Aylmer has â€Å"persuaded a be... ...John. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† In Leading American Novelists. New York: Books For Libraries Press, 1968.    Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"The Birthmark† Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawBirt.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1    McPherson, Hugo. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Use of Mythology.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.    Waggoner, Hyatt. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† In Six American Novelists of the Nineteenth Century, edited by Richard Foster. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1968.    Williams, Stanley T. â€Å"Hawthorne’s Puritan Mind.† In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.